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Glass- L"Ba>^^^ 
Book 'K^ 




NEEDED SCHOOL LEGISLATION 

Recommended by , 

LORRAINE ELIZABETH WOOSTER, 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



January, 1921. 



He who is a builder of our common schools is a patriotic citizen. 

Education is the safeguard of our nation. 

Nations will hold together and prosper when equal opportunity 
is accorded to all children. 

Be not afraid of those who criticize when your][cause is just. 



FRINTED BT KANSAS STATE PHINTISra PI/AWT 

IMBI ZUanVAIiT, STATE PEnTTKH 

TOPEKA 1021 

8-5980 



'I'MwaBM'WftawiW. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
DECEIVED 

MAY 2 1923 

DOCUMEIviTS DiViSlON 






DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, 

STATE OF KANSAS. 



January, 1921. 

To His Excellency, Henry J. Allen, Governor; and 
To the Honorable Legislators : 

Friends of Education — In compliance with the law, I beg 
to submit the following report and suggestions for needed 
legislation. The data is from the biennial report now in the 
process of completion. Sincerely, 

Lorraine Elizabeth Wooster, 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



Our first duty is to the children of our state. 



— 3 



KANSAS SCHOOLS. 



SCHOOL DISTRICTS. 

One-teacher schools 7,624 

Two (or more) teacher schools 996 

Second class cities 77 

First class cities 10 

8,707 
County high schools 27 

8,734 

Teachers 17,012 

Pupils enrolled ; 406,883 

Superintendents 592 

Principals 350 

Total supervisors 942 

Total teachers and supervisors 17,954 

SCHOOL TERMS. 
One-teacher schools, average, 29.3 weeks: 

Schools having 7 months 4,380 

Schools having 8 months 2,419 

Schools having 9 months 825 

7,624 

Schools having two or more teachers. . . . 996 — Average, 34.6 weeks 

Schools in cities of the second class 77 — Average, 35.8 weeks 

Schools in cities of the first class 10 — Average, 35.3 weeks 

County high schools 27 — Average, 36.0 weeks 

School census, 1920 522,457 

Enrolled in school 406,883— 77 .9% of census. 

Average attendance 309,505 — 75.8% of enrollment. 



— 4 



THE COST OF EDUCATION IN KANSAS 

For the School Year 1919-1920. 



During the school year which closed June 30, 1920, there were en- 
rolled in the rural schools of Kansas (one-teacher schools we often call 
them) 139,782 pupils, at an average annual cost per pupil of $42.09. 

In the city grade schools, including villages and all schools emplojdng 
two or more teachers below the high school, there were 208,372 pupils, 
at an average cost of $54.72. 

This gave Kansas a total elementary school enrollment of 348,154 
pupils, at an average cost per pupil of $49.65 each. 

1^1 the high schools of the state for the same year 58,729 were enrolled, 
at an average of $88.65, per pupil, which is 178 per cent of the cost of 
each elementary pupil and 211 per cent of each rural child. 

During this same year the high schools received state aid to the amount 
of $217,444.11, as follows: 

Normal training $74,949 . 00 

Industrial training 59,858 . 00 

Vocational agriculture (Federal) 35,506.44 

Vocational agriculture (state) 47,130.67 

Total $217,444.11 

The rural schools received, through state aid to weak dis- 

ticts, the sum of $20,000 . 00 

In other words, the high schools received nearly eleven times as much 
as the rural schools, although there were about two and one-half times 
as many pupils in the rural schools as in the high schools. This shows 
that 250 per cent as many pupils in the rural schools of Kansas receive 
one-eleventh of the amount of state aid that the high schools receive. 

More than 85 per cent of our children are in the rural schools. 

The average cost to the taxpayer per pupil in the rural schools is 
about 9 cents. 

The Average cost to the taxpayer per pupil in the city schools is about 
23 cents. 

You will note the country children give much greater returns for the 
money invested in their education than do the city children. 

To illustrate the overemphasis of the high school, or the under- 
emphasis of the elementary school, the reports of the superintendents of 
twenty-five Kansas cities of the second class for the year 1919-1920, are 
used in the following comparisons: 

— 5 — 



The average cost per pupil, based on total enrollment, was $8 per 
month for the high school and $3.95 per month for the grades. This 
is a yearly cost of $72 per enrolled pupil in the high school, or a total of 
$288 for the full four years' course at the same rate, while the expense of 
the grades, per enrolled pupil, is $35.55, or a total of $284.40, for the 
full elementary course of eight years. To state the matter in another 
way, it costs $3.60 more per pupil enrolled in the high school to complete 
four years' work than it costs the grade pupil for his full eight years. 

The cost per pupil based on average attendance shows practically the 
same difference of emphasis and interest. On this basis the high-school 
pupil costs $9.44 per month, $84.96 per year, and $339.84 for four years. 
On the same basis, the grade pupil costs $5.33 per month, $47.97 per 
year, and $383.76 for the full eight years — only $43.92 more than the 
four years' cost of the high-school pupil — an average of 61 cents more 
per month for the seventy-two months. 

With the foregoing money comparisons, the work of the two parts of 
the school system must be considered from another angle, in order to 
estimate the effectiveness of the above expenditures. 

More pupils had the elementary work than those who were in the 
high schools. Over three and one-third more were enrolled in the grades 
than in the high school. The average attendance in the grades was 
over three times the average attendance in the high school. 

Another comparison in favor of the value of the elementary work is 
the average per cent of elementary pupils completing the full eight years 
— practically the same as the per cent of high-school pupils completing 
the full four years. 

We should not value the high school less, but we should value the 
elementary school more. 

STATE SCHOOLS— EXPENSE. 

Average 
Cost. Students. Cost. 

University of Kansas $550,446 . 54 3,580 $153 . 70 

Kansas State Agricultural College 710,902.73 2,961 240.09 

Kansas State Normal 212,356.94 1,339 158.59 

Kansas Manual Training Normal 148,981.09 1,215 122.62 

Fort Hays Normal 83,380.22 494 168.78 

The above expenses of the state schools are half of the expenses for 
the two years ending June 30, 1920. 



NEEDED LEGISLATION RECOMMENDED. 



1. A minimum term of eight months for district schools. 

2. Change of dates for common-school diploma examination. 

3. More state aid for weak districts. 

4. A more equitable distribution of taxes. 

5. A more definite, more practical and a shorter course of study. 

6. Better school libraries. 

7. Increased salary for county superintendents. 

8. A change in date of term of county superintendent. 

9. More state and county aid for county normal institutes, and credit 

for attendance upon a term of four or six weeks. 

10. An adjustment of high-school laws. 

11. Remove heads of state institutions from Text Book Commission and 

place instead one county superintendent and one city superintend- 
ent. 

12. Normal-training aid for more high schools, reducing the number of 

pupils required for state aid. 

13. Vocational aid for more high schools, placing the supervision and 

direction of the work under the state superintendent of public 
instruction, the same as other high-school work. 

14. Remove heads of state institutions from State Board of Education, 

that persons on the board may not be beneficiaries of Federal 
funds which they apportion, or beneficiaries of other acts of the 
board; also that the members of the board may more directly 
represent the common schools, the high schools and the taxpayers. 

15. Revision of laws for consolidation. 

16. Revision of laws for certification, 

17. An adjustment of our laws, that more money may not be spent for 

tobacco and cigarettes, in violation of the state laws and the food 
and drug act, than is spent per child for food, clothing and edu- 
cation. 



— 7 — 



RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION REPORT. 



Kansas ranks twenty-seventh in the Russell Sage Foundation report 
of the states. 

The method of gathering the data is the same for all states. 

This report is based on ten different measurements, as follows: 

1. Per cent of school population attending school daily, including all 

children of school age (5 to 18 years). 

2. Average days attended by each child of school age. 

On the basis of 200 days for a full year. 

3. Average number of days schools were kept open. 

On basis of 200 days for a year. 

4. Per cent that high-school attendance was of total attendance. 
On basis of one-half as many days high-school attendance as grade 

attendance, because of eight years in grades and four years in 
high school. 

5. Per cent that boys were of girls in high schools. 
On basis of an equal number. 

6. Average annual expenditure per child attending. 
On basis of $100 for each. 

7. Average annual expenditure per child of school age. 
On basis of $100 more each. 

8. Average annual expenditure per teacher employed. 
On basis of $200 per month. 

9. Expenditure per pupil for purposes other than teachers' salaries. 
On basis of $50 more. 

10. Expenditure per teacher for salaries, $1,200 per year. 



Kansas believes in education. 

Kansas should give every child an equal educational opportunity. 
Efficiency is not a matter of birthright, but is a matter of education. 
Kansas should strive to rank in the number one class. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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